Sikhs in California Open Their Hearts and Gurdwaras to Residents Displaced by Floods

Here’s a Valentine’s Day story sure to warm everyone’s heart – in a show of love and compassion, gurdwaras across Northern California threw their doors open to aid and house nearby residents displaced due to spillways caused by the Oroville Dam.

Due to erosion in the spillway in Lake Oroville, a number of smaller towns could likely be flooded with water, so Sikhs in the region got to working towards a solution. They decided to house evacuees in any of the gurdwaras falling within 100 km.

Jaswant Singh, president of the Yuba City Gurdwara, was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying, “We have decided to accommodate as many people evacuated from the flood-affected areas as possible.”

In order to help spread the word, the gurdwaras also made announcements on local radio stations. The Yuba City Gurdwara is currently providing aid to 20 families that reached their doorstep by Sunday night.

Gurdwaras in Sacramento, Fresno and Turlock have also chipped in. In fact, at one point, one gurdwara in Sacramento was helping as many as 250 people.

No one was turned away in their hour of need, and members of the temple even handed out Valentine’s Day cards to everyone who had been displaced in this tragedy.

Given that the US is in the midst of a global controversy regarding a travel ban that prevents people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering, many US citizens have chosen to highlight this altruistic move to stress that immigrants add to the rich tapestry of any nation.

@POTUS A note on immigrants in america: Every Sikh temple in Sacramento has opened their doors to evacuees fleeing the Oroville Dam disaster